JHS' Heisey loves to play baseball

Jacksonville High School senior Christian Heisey, shown here discussing hitting with a teammate in the dugout before practice, is a multi-talented athlete who along with playing baseball and football has also wrestled for the Cardinals while maintaining a 4.5 grade point average. All of which explains why a number of schools have already offered him full-ride academic scholarships, including North Carolina-Wesleyan, where he plans on playing football and baseball.

Rick Scoppe/The Daily News

By Rick Scoppe-Sports Editor/The Daily News

Published: Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 10:00 AM.

If he could, Jacksonville High senior Christian Heisey would play baseball 365 days a year.

“But,” he said, “you know the weather around here.”

Forget the weather. How would he fit in football? Or wrestling? Or studying? Or his annual Christmas trek to Hawaii to see his father and wax up his surfboard?

Somehow you get the sense the 17-year-old Heisey would figure a way to fit it all in.

To consider Heisey’s athletic and academic resumé is to wonder if he has a twin. There’s the Heisey who had 95 tackles, three fumble recoveries and one interception for the Cardinal football team, good enough to earn second-team all-area honors as a linebacker from The Daily News.

And then there’s the Heisey who as a sophomore and junior was 62-20 at 145 and 152 pounds on the wrestling team, coming within one victory each year of making it to the state championships.

Then there’s Heisey the baseball player, who has played nearly every position for coach David Fleischer and moved from catcher to center field this season but likely will play second base in college.

What makes all that the more impressive is Heisey’s prowess in the classroom. He’s no dumb jock. Heisey sports a 4.5 grade point average and has academic full-ride scholarships offers from a number of schools.

“I make the joke all the time that I’m probably not as smart as Heisey, but I have more life experience than Christian does,” Fleischer said. “Could you really find a more well-rounded athlete in the county – I don’t know – that does it in the classroom and on the field? And that’s what makes him so desirable to all these small colleges.

“He has over $150,000 in scholarship money. That’s like winning the lottery, but he deserves it.”

While he may be the epitome – dare we say the perfect – student-athlete, Heisey has his flaws. Outgoing and hard working, Heisey would seem a natural leader. Not so, Fleischer said. While he does lead by example, Fleischer said Heisey’s “biggest weakness” is he expects every other athlete to share his passion and work ethic.

“I’ve tried to work with him (and say), ‘Hey, every kid that’s out here playing doesn’t want it as bad as you do,’” Fleischer said. “Now I wish they all did. But sometimes I’ve got to get him to step back and realize that it’s not realistic. He sees kids that are bigger, stronger and faster that are lazy, and he’s going a million miles an hour, hitting in the dark in the (batting) cages, and I can see him being frustrated that other kids don’t want it like he does.”

And make no mistake about it: Heisey wants it bad in baseball.

That’s why he made a tough, but logical, decision this fall. While he wasn’t about to give up football, he opted not to wrestle his senior year, even though he would almost have certainly made the state championships. A “couple” college baseball coaches told him if he wanted to play the sport at the next level he needed to “be dedicated to that.”

“I was looking forward to wrestling,” he said. “But then I thought, I’ve got to focus on my future. Around December, I walked through the gym annex and saw them practicing and I was like, ‘Oh, man, I miss it.’ The only thing I don’t miss is losing weight.”

Actually, Heisey said he didn’t have to cut that much weight, but not wrestling has made a big difference so far in baseball.

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel faster. I feel stronger. Wrestling 40 times in three months basically is a load. It’s really a grind. It takes a toll on you. Going from doing something every weekend and every day to not doing anything, you have more energy, You’re more awake during the day because you’re not tired from practice before.”

While it’s early, his numbers are impressive.

And his numbers don’t lie. The 5-foot-9 Heisey, who weighs about 20 pounds (170) more than his wrestling weight, is hitting ..316 through six games, with two doubles, two RBIs and 10 runs and is a key cog for a team that should compete for the Coastal 3-A Conference title. Jacksonville is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference entering tonight’s game at West Carteret.

Fleischer said he can tell the difference as well. Heisey, who has been Jacksonville’s leadoff hitter the past three years, “smoked” a double off the right field fence in his first at bat of the year and later in the same game hammered another double off the left field fence.

“He was dead tired (from wrestling),” Fleischer said. “He came out hot this year. He already has a bunch of energy as it is. Now, it’s through the roof. But he’s fun to be around. He’s a good kid. I almost view him as a little brother because I’ve been coaching him since he was in the eighth grade in junior legion. He’s just a lover of baseball.”

So it should come as no surprise that Heisey has committed to North Carolina-Wesleyan in Rocky Mount to play baseball. But he will also play football for the NCAA Division III South Atlantic Conference team – all on a full-ride academic scholarship. Heisey considered a number of other schools, including N.C. Central, Gardner-Webb, Wingate, Western Carolina and UNC-Pembroke.

But he liked the intimate atmosphere he found at North Carolina-Wesleyan, which has about 650 students.

“I’ve always liked small schools,” he said. “It’s a good community of kids. It’s not too far from home.”

While he loves math – “I find it’s like a puzzle almost. You’ve got to find what formula works with this problem,” he said ­–– Heisey plans on majoring in exercise science with a minor in biology. And while he’s thought about eventually teaching math or being a physical therapist, he isn’t sure yet what his life’s work will be.

For now, Heisey’s focus is on his final baseball season with the Cardinals. While some might find the move from behind the plate to center field a challenge, not Heisey, who played the position as well as second base for his showcase team.

“I’ve always prided myself in my ability to play multiple positions really well,” he said. “I told them I was up for it. It’s for the team. Team’s better with me in the outfield.”

Or at second base, which he’s already played this year. Or on the mound, where his team turned a triple play behind him this season. Or ... well, you get the idea.

“I honestly feel comfortable putting him anywhere on the field,” Fleischer said. “He’s played almost every position for me except first base. He knows the game.”

What’s more, he enjoys the game, which is evident during batting practice.

“In BP, I always go out there and when guys hit ‘em up, I’ll lay out, try to catch every ball that comes my way,” he said.

That, Fleischer said, goes back to Heisey having a “wrestling mentality.”

“For him to roam in the outfield, that’s like the highlight of his week,” the coach said. “He’s diving. He’s diving when he doesn’t have to dive. He’s got the dirtiest uniform. Then he’ll go to short and he’s turning double plays. Then he’ll go to second and he’ll turn two there. He’s like the Energizer Bunny. He’s constantly going. He’s constantly chirping. He’s constantly talking.”

Sometimes his chirping is just for pulling a reporter’s leg. Asked who his favorite Major League player was, Heisey immediately replied: “Oh, it’s got to be my cousin, Chris Heisey, plays for the Reds.”

Almost as quickly, Heisey amended his answer.

“He’s not really my cousin,” he said. “But he’s from the same town that my grandpa’s from.”

Heisey turned more serious when he was asked about his last go-round as a high school baseball player.

“Every senior wants to go out on a strong note,” he said. “I feel like we have a really strong team. We can possibly win a conference championship. We’re one of the stronger teams in our conference, and with our strengths we can make a good run in the playoffs. We’ve got good pitching. We’ve got a decent nine batting, and our defense is really strong.”

And, of course, the Cardinals have Christian Heisey.

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If he could, Jacksonville High senior Christian Heisey would play baseball 365 days a year.

“But,” he said, “you know the weather around here.”

Forget the weather. How would he fit in football? Or wrestling? Or studying? Or his annual Christmas trek to Hawaii to see his father and wax up his surfboard?

Somehow you get the sense the 17-year-old Heisey would figure a way to fit it all in.

To consider Heisey’s athletic and academic resumé is to wonder if he has a twin. There’s the Heisey who had 95 tackles, three fumble recoveries and one interception for the Cardinal football team, good enough to earn second-team all-area honors as a linebacker from The Daily News.

And then there’s the Heisey who as a sophomore and junior was 62-20 at 145 and 152 pounds on the wrestling team, coming within one victory each year of making it to the state championships.

Then there’s Heisey the baseball player, who has played nearly every position for coach David Fleischer and moved from catcher to center field this season but likely will play second base in college.

What makes all that the more impressive is Heisey’s prowess in the classroom. He’s no dumb jock. Heisey sports a 4.5 grade point average and has academic full-ride scholarships offers from a number of schools.

“I make the joke all the time that I’m probably not as smart as Heisey, but I have more life experience than Christian does,” Fleischer said. “Could you really find a more well-rounded athlete in the county – I don’t know – that does it in the classroom and on the field? And that’s what makes him so desirable to all these small colleges.

“He has over $150,000 in scholarship money. That’s like winning the lottery, but he deserves it.”

While he may be the epitome – dare we say the perfect – student-athlete, Heisey has his flaws. Outgoing and hard working, Heisey would seem a natural leader. Not so, Fleischer said. While he does lead by example, Fleischer said Heisey’s “biggest weakness” is he expects every other athlete to share his passion and work ethic.

“I’ve tried to work with him (and say), ‘Hey, every kid that’s out here playing doesn’t want it as bad as you do,’” Fleischer said. “Now I wish they all did. But sometimes I’ve got to get him to step back and realize that it’s not realistic. He sees kids that are bigger, stronger and faster that are lazy, and he’s going a million miles an hour, hitting in the dark in the (batting) cages, and I can see him being frustrated that other kids don’t want it like he does.”

And make no mistake about it: Heisey wants it bad in baseball.

That’s why he made a tough, but logical, decision this fall. While he wasn’t about to give up football, he opted not to wrestle his senior year, even though he would almost have certainly made the state championships. A “couple” college baseball coaches told him if he wanted to play the sport at the next level he needed to “be dedicated to that.”

“I was looking forward to wrestling,” he said. “But then I thought, I’ve got to focus on my future. Around December, I walked through the gym annex and saw them practicing and I was like, ‘Oh, man, I miss it.’ The only thing I don’t miss is losing weight.”

Actually, Heisey said he didn’t have to cut that much weight, but not wrestling has made a big difference so far in baseball.

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel faster. I feel stronger. Wrestling 40 times in three months basically is a load. It’s really a grind. It takes a toll on you. Going from doing something every weekend and every day to not doing anything, you have more energy, You’re more awake during the day because you’re not tired from practice before.”

While it’s early, his numbers are impressive.

And his numbers don’t lie. The 5-foot-9 Heisey, who weighs about 20 pounds (170) more than his wrestling weight, is hitting ..316 through six games, with two doubles, two RBIs and 10 runs and is a key cog for a team that should compete for the Coastal 3-A Conference title. Jacksonville is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference entering tonight’s game at West Carteret.

Fleischer said he can tell the difference as well. Heisey, who has been Jacksonville’s leadoff hitter the past three years, “smoked” a double off the right field fence in his first at bat of the year and later in the same game hammered another double off the left field fence.

“He was dead tired (from wrestling),” Fleischer said. “He came out hot this year. He already has a bunch of energy as it is. Now, it’s through the roof. But he’s fun to be around. He’s a good kid. I almost view him as a little brother because I’ve been coaching him since he was in the eighth grade in junior legion. He’s just a lover of baseball.”

So it should come as no surprise that Heisey has committed to North Carolina-Wesleyan in Rocky Mount to play baseball. But he will also play football for the NCAA Division III South Atlantic Conference team – all on a full-ride academic scholarship. Heisey considered a number of other schools, including N.C. Central, Gardner-Webb, Wingate, Western Carolina and UNC-Pembroke.

But he liked the intimate atmosphere he found at North Carolina-Wesleyan, which has about 650 students.

“I’ve always liked small schools,” he said. “It’s a good community of kids. It’s not too far from home.”

While he loves math – “I find it’s like a puzzle almost. You’ve got to find what formula works with this problem,” he said ­–– Heisey plans on majoring in exercise science with a minor in biology. And while he’s thought about eventually teaching math or being a physical therapist, he isn’t sure yet what his life’s work will be.

For now, Heisey’s focus is on his final baseball season with the Cardinals. While some might find the move from behind the plate to center field a challenge, not Heisey, who played the position as well as second base for his showcase team.

“I’ve always prided myself in my ability to play multiple positions really well,” he said. “I told them I was up for it. It’s for the team. Team’s better with me in the outfield.”

Or at second base, which he’s already played this year. Or on the mound, where his team turned a triple play behind him this season. Or ... well, you get the idea.

“I honestly feel comfortable putting him anywhere on the field,” Fleischer said. “He’s played almost every position for me except first base. He knows the game.”

What’s more, he enjoys the game, which is evident during batting practice.

“In BP, I always go out there and when guys hit ‘em up, I’ll lay out, try to catch every ball that comes my way,” he said.

That, Fleischer said, goes back to Heisey having a “wrestling mentality.”

“For him to roam in the outfield, that’s like the highlight of his week,” the coach said. “He’s diving. He’s diving when he doesn’t have to dive. He’s got the dirtiest uniform. Then he’ll go to short and he’s turning double plays. Then he’ll go to second and he’ll turn two there. He’s like the Energizer Bunny. He’s constantly going. He’s constantly chirping. He’s constantly talking.”

Sometimes his chirping is just for pulling a reporter’s leg. Asked who his favorite Major League player was, Heisey immediately replied: “Oh, it’s got to be my cousin, Chris Heisey, plays for the Reds.”

Almost as quickly, Heisey amended his answer.

“He’s not really my cousin,” he said. “But he’s from the same town that my grandpa’s from.”

Heisey turned more serious when he was asked about his last go-round as a high school baseball player.

“Every senior wants to go out on a strong note,” he said. “I feel like we have a really strong team. We can possibly win a conference championship. We’re one of the stronger teams in our conference, and with our strengths we can make a good run in the playoffs. We’ve got good pitching. We’ve got a decent nine batting, and our defense is really strong.”